Our Opinion: Open records

Privatization can't be an excuse to shut the door

Back in May, housekeeping and maintenance workers at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee were invited to apply for jobs with Aramark, a private company that had a new contract to take over the jobs previously done by those same state employees.

The privatization was part of big changes - including severe cuts - at the hospital that many said could devastate the community west of Tallahassee.

So, how many of those displaced workers did Aramark hire?

Who knows? The company won't say, and so the Tallahassee Democrat went to court to seek the information that should have been freely available under the state's Public Records Act.

Last week, Gadsden Circuit Judge James O. Shelfer agreed with the Democrat, saying that the hospital is an important public facility and that its operation, whether performed by the state or a private contractor, was covered by the public-records law.

For the past budget year, according to Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, 72 percent of the state's budget went to contract spending. The battle over public records is one that certainly will be fought again and again as the state of Florida privatizes more and more government services.

Florida holds up its government in the sunshine as a model for the rest of the nation when it comes to making records and meetings accessible to citizens.

So there should be no threat that privatization will be used to keep citizens in the dark.

Under current law, a contractor is subject to the open records laws if it is "acting on behalf of" a public agency. A number of factors come into play in making that determination, from the size of the contract to whether the services are a government function or are performed on publicly owned property.

There is no doubt that Florida State Hospital is an important public facility performing an important public service - regardless of who signs a particular worker's paycheck. "They stepped in the shoes of the state," said the Democrat's attorney, Michael Glazer.

That's why Judge Shelfer's ruling was hardly unexpected, despite Aramark's saying it intended to appeal the ruling. In fact, that may be why Judge Shelfer also awarded the Democrat attorney's fees in the case.

But there is still a problem.

The business of the state of Florida should not be open only to companies such as the Tallahassee Democrat, with the will and the relatively deep pockets to take its case to court.

Records such as these should be easily available to all Floridians.

If there is any doubt over how privatization should interact with Florida's sunshine laws, then the Legislature should act quickly - and forcefully - to make it clear that, if private companies want to do the state's business, they must do it in the same open manner as state government. It's what the people of Florida expect, because it's their money being spent.

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Our Opinion: Open records

Back in May, housekeeping and maintenance workers at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee were invited to apply for jobs with Aramark, a private company that had a new contract to take over